Piwknoaraph co



E. PEARL.

CRUTCH.

APPLICATION men DECJG. ma.

Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

INVENTOR E coumnm VLANOJRAPII c INGTON, D. c.

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Specification of Letters Batent. Patented Sept,

Application:filed necember 16, 1918. Serial No. 266,983.

10 or ,Inaimed in their lower limbs.

One of the main ,objects of the invention is to. prov de afcrutch of exceedingly simple construction, which may be readily adjusted as to i-ts overall length and also, the distance between the handpiece-or grip and the head,

such adjustments being effected I without the use, of tools ,Or appliances of, any'kind.

A further object is to provide a crutch hayingits entire .eXter-iorperfectly smooth ,and free from projections of an kindvw h ever, and

lFina'llyato provide .an extensible vor ad justable crutch instantly adaptable to pen sons of. various-heights," and arm lengths-.-

a. crutch devoid-of objectionable bolts, nuts and screws, of such fieXi'ble construction that it .will: yield to the variouspositions of ,theibody necessary .when innse. No corners or protrudingparts towear. and chafe the clothing or body.

These. andother'gIike objects, which will become more fully apparent as the description progresses, are attained'bythe novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a material part of this disclosure, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view, showing a crutch made'in accordance with the 40 invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a crutch head and pair of staffs engaged therewith.

looking at the inner side of one of the staffs,

slightly modified.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view, showing a modified form of crutch leg.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the sleeve ,c lamp used to engage the stalfswith the ,cen t n l gnan Fig. 8 is a perspective viewshowing a type of;l1andle,grip ,engageable with the crutch staffs,

In the drawings, the numeral 10, indicates conventional type .of crutch head having :horn-like end elements 11, .and also downward y ex end ngproj tio 12, h sam being bored;to1eceive-. the.staffs 1.4, which are engaged withinthe head in. any'preferred manner.

It will be understood that the staff; head is rounded, smooth and highly finished so I to prevent abrasion of. the garments coming in contact; therewith, the head resting in the .arm pit with, which it is shaped in -conformityso as to be, used with comfort.

,The staffs 14,arehere shownns cylindrical in cross; section and. substantially straight when in a free .or, unconfined condition, but obviously may be ofany. preferred .section the material being preferably wood .of stifi', tough, butrof resilient nature. In the inner .sides ofeach' of the staffs are formed a plurality'of circular; indentations 15, those in oneregisteringwith those in the opposite side,anddapted to receive pins or projections 1 6 extendingfrom-theends'of the 11 and-1e 17 here shown- .to be barrel. shaped, but which may be made ofany desired Sh pe whatever, the ends 18 being formed concavel-y: to agree with the circular shape v.of -the stafls 14, so that the joints, when the handle is assembled with the staffs, are close fitting and neat appearing.

Formed longitudinally in the inner sides of the staffs 14, at their lower ends, are concave recesses 20, the same extending from a point at the extreme bottom of the staffs, re-

moving two thirds of its diameter outwardly to the point 21 where they terminate, merging with the surface of the staffs, and fixed in the upper portion of the recesses 20, are one or more pins 22, the same extending slightly outward beyond the radius of the staff, and adapted to engage with any of the plurality of openings 24, formed in opposite sides of theleg 25, which it is to be understood fits neatly within the recesses 20, the lower end of the leg having secured upon it a rubber tip 26 adapted to absorb and minimize jars due to contact with the surface passed over.

In-the modification shown in Figs. 5 and .6, the,,pins27, shown set in @the recesses 20,

are much shorter, beveled toward the center,

and of lesser magnitude, the samev being suited to enter any of the 'shallow, 'transverse recesses 28 formed at regular spaced intervals upon opposite sides of the leg25,

as it may be that the cross recesses-tend to I weaken the center staff less than the indented openings 2%. 7

Engageable with the outer sides of the staffs, when the leg or center staff has been placed therebetween, is a clamp sleeve 1 -having parallel sides, and curved, diag- In operation, the head and staff-elements having been assembled, as shown in Fig. 3,

the leg or-center element is entered there- :between, at which time the clamp sleeve 30 is loosely positioned upon its lower end, the staffs-brought together by hand pressure or a tourniquet if very stiff, and the pins 22 entered into the desired corresponding openings'24, (or the similarpins 27 entered into the-transverse recesses 28,) the handle 17 havin'g previouslybeen placed in position, whereupon the sleeve 1s drawn upward, and

due to the slight angularity of its ends is firmly held by frictional engagement with the bowed surfaces of the staffs, clamping, binding and confining the several parts in intimate relation, preventing any movement in any direction whatsoever therebetween.

From: the foregoing it will be seen that the handle 17 maybe raised or lowered,and

- toone of unitary when in place is prevented from turning by the extending "elements 18., and. also pre .vented from moving lengthwise of thestafls due to the extending pins 16 and openings 15,"while" the leg or center element 25 is.

firmly engaged by connecting pins'in appropriate openings so as to lengthen or shorten the operative length of the crutch without the use of any implements whatever.

- 3 :Attention is further called to the fact that i no nuts, bolts, screws or other objectionable extending elements are used whatever, that 'the pins and theircorresponding openings do not weaken'the'staft' sides to any material degree, and that adjustments of the handle and operative crutch length may-be efi'ected V in any expeditious manner, while the strength of the crutch'is substantially-equal or solidconstruction. I claim:--- W A crutch comprising a pair 0f stafis,*a

foot piece disposed between 'the'stafis, said stafl's having their lower end portions. convergingand formed with relatively long recesses which latter recelve the foot piece and v engage the latter on OppOSIteSldGS thGIQOf,"

the staffs and foot piece having interengaging parts in the upper portionspf the recesses to prevent any lengthwisemovement of the foot piece, and a clamping sleeve engaging around thestafis and having down- 9 V wardly convergent ends which conformably engage the outer sides of the respective staffs to hold the-latter against the foot piece, said clamping sleeve when-"in position being dis- In testimony whereof I posed at a distance above:the lower ,terminals of thestafis so as to clamp'the latter. against opposite sides of the foot piece. {If

have signed' my,

EUGEivEI PEARL;

Copies .of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, byeddressing 'the fiommissionenofi latents,

' i f -Washington,1)'. C. 

